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In Uefa's sad world a pair of marketed underpants is worse than racism

by Marcus Christenson 5 years ago

Uefa needs to explain how it can fine Nicklas Bendtner £80,000 for showing his underpants when Porto had to pay only £16,700 for their fans' racist abuse earlier this season

What price ambush marketing? Well, the going rate seems to be €100,000 (£80,000) according to Uefa, which has fined the Denmark striker Nicklas Bendtner that extraordinary amount for revealing a pair of underpants with the name of an Irish bookmaker on it.

Uefa has also banned Bendtner for one game, meaning that Denmark will be without their top striker for their crucial World Cup qualifier against Czech Republic in September. It is a ban that could have huge implications for the Danes' hopes of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup and, subsequently, the Danish FA's income for the next few years.

First of all: It is a ridiculous punishment. It is ludicrous in its own right but when you start comparing it to the fines Uefa has handed out for racism, it becomes embarrassing.

• October 2000 Patrick Vieira says Sinisa Mihajlovic called him a black bastard and a fucking black monkey, which Mihajlovic denies. The Serb also claimed that Vieira had started it by calling him a gypsy. Uefa's punishment? Two-match ban for Mihajlovic.

• June 2007 Serbian fans aim racist abuse at England's Nedum Onuoha at the Under-21 European Championship in Holland. Uefa's punishment? Serbian Football Federation is fined £16,500 for "the racist chanting of supporters and the improper conduct of their players".

• June 2008 Some Croatia fans are found guilty by Uefa of "displaying a racist banner and showing racist conduct" during a Euro 2008 quarter-final against Turkey. Uefa's punishment? The Croatian Football Federation is fined nearly £10,000.

In some of the cases Bendtner's "crime" has been judged by Uefa to be about 10 times as bad as racist chanting. How can anyone possibly justify that? Uefa needs to come out and say why it has decided to fine a player £80,000 for breaking a rule he said "he wasn't aware of" while punishing racist abuse less severely.

The absurdity of Uefa's fining system was there to be seen earlier this season after the above-mentioned fine handed out to Porto for the racial abuse of Balotelli (£16,700) was followed by a higher fine (£24,740) for Manchester City – for returning to the field less than a minute late after half-time.

The sad thing is that the only winners in this pitiful tale is Paddy Power, the bookmaker whose name so offended Uefa. The governing body said on its website on Monday that Bendtner had been fined and banned for "improper conduct" – but surely it is Uefa that should be held to account for that offence.